Throughout the Pokemon series, there have been a number of times when you turn up at a Gym and the Leader isn't there, or maybe you run into the Leader at another location. So, we've come to the general consensus that leaders don't have to stay at their Gyms.

This solves the majority of the problem with "player gyms" right there.

My idea is to have a location in-game where the Player can earn his/her way to opening their own new Gym in the region. Possibly after beating the Elite Four, you return to a city and can open your Gym in a building that, earlier in the game, was an abandoned old place.

The way it would work in-game is that occasionally, you'd get calls that a Challenger is coming, and you'd be requested to return. Obviously, you return whenever you want, just like when a Trainer calls YOU for a rematch. The difference is that you never know what sort of team the Challenger is going to have for you. The game runs an algorithm to put their Pokemon at levels that compete similarly to your own, and it also selects their species competitively.

Now for the other details.

First off, you could design your own badges. This would work very similarly to the Mario Kart DS "player emblem" feature, except you could have a wider variety of colors (including "metallics" to give it that cool polished shine from D/P).

Secondly, you would be able to set up your own gym layout, including your trainers that hang out inside with you. The skill level, various species, and number of these trainers would depend on a variety of factors, including your own team's skill level, how many badges YOU have, and some financial factors and/or "gym cred" or "gym money". Additionally, "Gym money" is kept separately from your own money. You can transfer back and forth if you'd like, but the main idea would be that losses don't come out of your own pocket. However, if you keep more money IN the gym's coffers, you can charge (NPC) trainers more for losing.

Third, players could possibly go online to a Battle Arena and select from a variety of gyms to battle, based on their type description and the gym leader's average team level. In online play, the payout system would obviously work differently. I'm not sure how I would figure this out, but I definitely would set it up far differently because it just wouldn't be ABLE to work the same.

Finally, you could rack up your own collection of PLAYER BADGES, thus increasing the length of the game tremendously. "I have 16 badges." "Yeah? Well I have 549!" With an entire album of player badges to show off, there's a ton of possibilities.

Thoughts? Ideas to contribute?

boooooooooo I want concept art like the thread promised, not fan ideas :(

Interesting idea.

Will never happen.

Title doesn't promise anything of the sort. It promises a concept for Pokemon, which is exactly what it has.

Isn't the Resort House similar to this? Don't know if you can fight the people that visit you.

And if I remember right in Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald when you Mix Records with friends you get a copy of their Secret Base and can fight a trainer that has their Pokemon.

The idea is more to evolve those sorts of ideas into actually running your own gym, with all of the customization, abilities, and duties that come with it. Those offer similar features, but not quite all of them.

Essentially, what you're saying there is proof that something like this very possibly will happen, unlike what everybody else is saying.

Interesting, but coming from Game Freak, they'll never do something like this. Actually, they did almost nothing since Generation III.

I really like this idea. Hurry, email it to GameFreak before they finish Black and White!

It is a good idea, and similar ones have been implemented before, so its not impossible.